A Widower's Grief
by BeebaS
Summary: Troy lost Gabriella on their wedding day. He starts seeing her following him a year later, and thinks it's in his head. But is it? Rated K because of minor violence at the beginning. Isn't too bad. Up for adoption. First come first served.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Second ever fanfic! Ok, so I thought this up when I was just bored, but still...I think it's an alright story, def not the best, but it's ok.**

Troy POV

_I must be the happiest man in the world._

I had just married my girlfriend of 4 years, Gabriella Montez. And believe me, I was over the moon about that fact.

Little did I know, all my joy was about to be shattered into a million, tiny, microscopic pieces.

We were leaving the party after our wedding and heading out to the car to go home. Suddenly, a guy stepped out of the shadows on the other side of the road. First thing I noticed – he was clearly drunk. Second thing – _he was holding a gun, and aiming it directly at us._

I gasped, and looked at Gabriella to see if she had noticed. She hadn't. I grabbed her, and I tried to pull her out of harm's way. Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot filled the air. I pulled Gabriella behind the car, and I examined her for any injuries.

I had been too late.

There was a single, bloody gunshot wound in her chest, staining her dress with dark red blood. My whole body went cold and numb. _No. No, no, no._ _This can't be happening..._

It was. My new bride, my beautiful, gorgeous wife, was bleeding, dying in my arms.

"No," I sobbed, "Gabby, you're OK. You're OK. _Please_ be OK."

"Troy..." she whispered. Then, she slumped in my arms._ NO!_ I felt for her pulse. Nothing.

"Gabby!" I cried, "Wake up! Please..." I completely lost control. I shook violently as I sobbed for my darling wife, who had been taken, too soon, away from me. I hugged her lifeless body as I cried.

I felt a hand touch me on the shoulder. I looked up to see my father looking down at me, with a confused and worried expression on his face. Nobody knew what had happened, I realised. They had all been inside...

"She...she..." I tried to speak, but it was impossible. I wanted to tell him what had happened, as if telling someone would turn things back to normal. Gabriella couldn't be dead, she couldn't be...

_Take me instead, Lord. I can't live if she is dead. Please!_

"Son? What's happened?..." My father's voice seemed to fade away. I was going into shock, I just knew it. I was cold, clammy and shaky, and I could hear that my breathing had sped up.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up in hospital. I had passed out.

"Mr. Bolton?" said an unfamiliar voice. I looked around for the voice, and I saw a nurse.

"Huh?" I said groggily.

"Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling now? You went into shock." She explained.

_I knew that._

"Gabriella! Where is she?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm afraid we weren't able to save your wife. She's in the morgue now," the nurse said sadly. My eyes filled with fresh tears and overflowed, and I nodded silently, to show I had heard her.

"We're very sorry, sir," the nurse said, and I simply smiled sadly at her, to say it wasn't her fault, or anyone's fault except that madman who decided to shoot my Gabby.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Poor Troy...**

**And poor Gabriella, getting shot...**

**Tell me what you think, please! :)**


	2. Chapter 2 A Year Gone By

**Poor Troy lost Gabriella right after their wedding. But, he's in for a big surprise! R&R.**

**TPOV**

A year had passed since my wedding day. A year had passed since I watched my wife die in front of my very eyes. My friends had been avoiding me, since I had been so miserable for the past year and they simply couldn't bear to be around someone so miserable. That, and they knew I needed space to myself.. I needed some time alone to deal with my pain and torment.

I still couldn't believe that my Gabriella was gone. The fact that it was the anniversary of her death really didn't help my mood. My parents were worried about me, I could tell by the way they kept looking at me when they came to visit me. Could they blame me? I had known her for 5 years, been her boyfriend for 4 years, and to make things worse, she had been pregnant when she was killed. Now, I would never know my little girl. She hadn't even known, and if she had, she didn't tell me.

To keep my mind off my miserable life, I had started working at East High, my old high school. My dad had been talking about retiring for years, and he had now went through with his plan. So I had taken his place as basketball coach. Like I said, working with the team really took my mind off everything.

I was working with the guys again, on my wedding anniversary. But not even basketball could lighten my mood today. The guys all noticed.

"S'up, Coach? Why you so down?" Marko asked. He sounded genuinely worried about me.

I sighed. "It's nothing." They all stared at me, not believing a word, so I said, "Fine. Today is my first wedding anniversary," I paused while they all congratulated me, "but also today is a year since my wife died." Their faces instantly went from happy to shocked. "I'm sorry if I'm not really into the game today."

"Hey, Coach, it's fine," Kyle said, "We don't mind. You're mourning your wife, it's cool." He suddenly realised what he had just said, and quickly added, "Err, I mean..."

I chuckled and said, "I know what you meant, don't worry." He sighed with relief, and I had to smile. They started the game again, I noticed that they kept shooting worried glances over at me. Other than that though, they didn't mention anything about Gabriella or death.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Later, I was leaving the gym hall and I overheard a conversation between two boys. One was Marko, the other was a boy I had seen around school, Niall.

"Personally, I don't know what it's like to lose a family member or loved one, since I've never had to go through anything like that," said Niall. _They were talking about death? OK, either someone let something slip, or this kid is just really morbid. Ugh._

All the guys on the team overheard it too, and they immediately looked over at me, worried at how I would react to someone mentioning something about death. I simply smiled back at them.

"I don't think we should talk about people dying," Kyle said worriedly, "at least, not here."

"Why not?" Niall shot back. Kyle glanced at me. Niall noticed, and he too looked at me_. _"Why you looking at the Coach? Has someone that he knows died?" Kyle simply nodded.

"So Coach, who is it?" Niall said, obviously trying to upset me. He wasn't going to succeed though. After the past year, I was finally able to talk about it calmly, without bursting into tears like I used to.

"If you must know, _Niall,_ my wife died a year ago, on our wedding day. We were leaving the party after the wedding and she was shot. She died in my arms. Happy?" On the contrary, he looked stunned by my answer. "I thought so." I walked away from him, taking a deep breath to calm myself more.

I sighed. Was I ever going to be completely fine with talking about her death? _No_, my brain answered, and I sighed again, getting my car keys out of my pocket and opening the door of the gym.

I walked out to my car (it was now the end of the day), got in and drove home. The moment I got in the door, I threw my jacket at the hook, surprising myself when it stayed up, and went through to the living room and flopped down on the couch, closing my eyes. I fell asleep after a minute or two.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I woke up about an hour later, at 4.30, sensing someone watching me. I cautiously opened my eyes, wondering who was in my house. I looked at the seat opposite me and sat up quickly when I saw who it was.

_Gabby?_

"G-Gabby?" I stammered. "OK, Troy, it's finally happened, you've gone crazy. Completely bonkers."

"Haha, smarty pants," she said. Wait, no she didn't! _She's not really there, she's dead, she's just in your head._ "I'm not in your head. I'm a ghostie!" she giggled. She was funny, she always used to talk like that when we were alone. Of course, she had never said she was a 'ghostie' when she was alive.

I looked out the window, half expecting the people from the 'Happy Farm' to walk up the front path, with a straight-jacket. I looked back at her uncertainly.

"You've seen 'Ghost Whisperer', Troy," she said, rolling her eyes, "you know, we can't move on if we have unfinished business to do. Duh," she continued, grinning from ear to ear. She was loving my confusion.

"Can everyone else see you?" I asked.

"Nopesy, only you," she replied. _Ye-es,_ I thought, _that will reeeally make me believe you. Tell me I'm the only one who can see you! Why would I think I was going crazy?_ She rolled her eyes at me.

"So, if you have unfinished business, what is it?" I asked casually.

"Well, I can't exactly leave you without your one true love, now can I?"

"So you're staying?"

"Until I find your girl, yes."

"W-wait. _WHAT_? You're going to _FIND_ me a girl? _You're_ my girl! My one and only! That'll be why I _MARRIED YOU_!" I yelled. I was losing my temper, but I didn't care. She couldn't leave me. She couldn't!

"Troy, _I'm dead_, in case you hadn't noticed. You need someone who can love you, who's _alive_," she said. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it... "I can't be her. I have to help you find the girl who's right for you."

"_You're_ right for me," I pleaded, "please, Gabby..."

"Troy, don't," she said, with a sad smile. I could hardly breathe. It was like she had died all over again. I couldn't lose her again. "It'll be fine, baby. I don't mind you dating again. Don't think it'll be an insult to my memory."

"What if I don't want to date again? What if I want to be single? A w-widower." My voice cracked on the last word. I could feel the all too familiar lump in my throat which meant I was going to cry again. I also felt the prickling feeling in my eyes as well.

"It's OK," she whispered, "I already know who she is. You're going to love her."

**Will he love this girl that Gabriella has found for him? Will it be love at first sight, or will they hate each other? Like I said before, R&R. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty please! LOL.**


	3. CH 3 Lizzie Andrews

Chapter 3 – Lizzie Andrews

The next day, 'Gabriella' forced me to go out to find this woman she was setting me up with. I went rather grudgingly, muttering things like, "I do not want a new girlfriend, I was perfectly happy when I had my FIRST wife, thank you very much." But no, she wasn't having any of it.

"Go. Now." she demanded. "Lizzie will be walking down the street in a few minutes, and you'd better be there when she does!" I sighed unhappily, but did as I was told.

I walked outside, and looked up and down the street. It was completely deserted. I couldn't help but think, _Maybe 'Lizzie' isn't real, and maybe Gabriella is really in my head like I originally thought._ "I am not just in your head!" Gabriella said angrily. I was getting scared now. _Can she hear my thoughts?_ "Yes, Troy!" Sigh. I would never be able to keep anything hidden from her.

Suddenly, a woman with long red hair and startling blue eyes walked down the street, and I wondered if this was Lizzie. "Yes."

_Would you get out of my head? _"No." I growled under my breath, but otherwise said nothing. Suddenly, Gabriella disappeared from my side and appeared beside Lizzie. Her foot flew out, and (somehow, I had no idea how, since she was a ghost) tripped Lizzie. I gasped, and rushed over to Lizzie to see if she was OK.

"Miss?" I said to her (I couldn't call her Lizzie, we hadn't met, and I didn't even know if that was her real name), "Are you OK? Do you need any help?" I took her arm and helped her up.

"Thank you so much," she said. She looked up into my eyes, and we stared at each other for a minute. "Err...I'm Lizzie, by the way. Lizzie Andrews."

"Pleasure to meet you, Lizzie," I replied with a smile, "The name's Bolton. Troy Bolton." She giggled at my stupid pun, which, for some reason, made me feel very happy. I grinned.

**Lucille's POV (Troy's mother)**

Troy's friends, their girlfriends/wives, Jack and I were all walking down the street towards Troy's house. Suddenly, I stopped the little group.

"Wait," I whispered, hardly believing my eyes. _Was my son really flirting with a young woman? Who was NOT Gabriella? The 'love of his life'?_ It was right at his front gate. The young woman, who had long red hair, was happily chatting away to him, and he was happily chatting back to her. This wasn't like him.

He had been so depressed since Gabriella's death. Don't get me wrong – I did want my son to be happy. I was just surprised that he, all of a sudden, seemed to have gotten over his grief.

I overheard him say, "The name's Bolton. Troy Bolton." and the girl started giggling at the silly pun he used whenever he met someone new. Only one other person had ever laughed at it – Gabriella. He grinned widely at the sound of the girl's laugh. He was mesmerised by her, and he had the glint in his eye that he'd had whenever he was around Gabriella.

I smiled knowingly at Jack, who simply looked confused. "Lucy? What's going on? Why are we stopping...? Wait, is that a _woman_ with_ Troy?_"

I laughed at him. "Yes, Jack. Isn't it wonderful that he's actually happy again? Look! He's grinning! Nobody's been able to make him do that since you-know-what happened!"

"Good Lord!" Jack said, a grin spreading across his face.

"Wow," said the rest of the group. They too were shocked at Troy's sudden change in behaviour. But we were happy for him.

**Troy's POV**

I couldn't believe I was actually getting along with Lizzie. She was amazing, and as much as I didn't want to admit it...I was starting to like her. Yes, in that way. And I'd only known her for about ten minutes!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my parents, my friends and their girlfriends and wives all standing and watching me talking to a woman. Laughing with a woman. Joking around with her. And she was pretty.

They started walking over to us. What would they say?

They reached us, and Mum turned to me. "Troy, who's this?" she asked.

"Erm...This is Lizzie. I just met her. She tripped, so I came out and helped her up."

"Good. I'm glad you helped her. If you hadn't, I would have given you an earful!" Mum told me.

"Mum," I grumbled. "Why wouldn't I help her? You know it's not like me to just leave a fair maiden to fend for herself," I said the last part louder, so Lizzie could hear me better. She giggled. The sound filled me with happiness. I was now full of hope that Gabby Ghost would be right that Lizzie was the girl for me.


End file.
